Private potato breeding in the United Kingdom

Summary

The Caithness breeding programme was initiated in 1976 by an experienced potato breeder turned Scottish seed grower (the Writer) who first linked up with a London-based exporter and then with three of the larger Scottish grower/dealers. Thus the Caithness Group, which aspires to breed new varieties and sell seed of them worldwide, could be described as a vertically integrated seed potato business on the Dutch model, the only one in the United Kingdom.

The first breeding objective was to improve upon Desiree, the Dutch red-tubered variety which is a leading maincrop in the UK, as well as in important seed potato export markets. Desiree lacks resistance to cyst nematode (Globodera spp.) and common scab (Streptomyces spp.).

Maris Piper, a leading British variety from the Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge, has the gene H1 for resistance to Globodera rostochiensis, so the first cross was Desiree X Maris Piper, or DXMP in the short notation which will be developed in a self-evident way. Pentland Crown, a leading variety bred at the Scottish Plant Breeding Station near Edinburgh was used as the source of resistance to common scab in the second generation cross D.MPXPC. Up to this point, therefore, the breeding had the advantage of relying solely on three leading varieties of English, Dutch and Scottish origin.